Coupler



Feb. 14,1933. w R RICHARDS 1,897,279

COUPLER Filed Aug. 23, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet l Feb. 14, 1933. w. F.RICHARDS 1,897,279

COUPLER Filed Aug. 23, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I I Y ungmmflflnflmnm mmmmnn i, I Ml l-Ill! Patented Feb. 14, 1933 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICEWILLARD I. RICHARDS, OF DEPEW, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO COMPANY, OF NEWYORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF MARYLAND COUPLER Application filed August23, 1929. Serial No. 387,878.

This invention relates to couplers and more particularly to an improvedcar coupler adapted to interchange with the standard D coupler.

The principal object of my invention, gencrank lever.

Another object of my invention is to provide a car coupler having partswhich are simple in contour and adapted to be readily constructed andplaced in position in the v associated head.

A further object of my invention is the provision of a coupler withimproved locking mechanism involving a unitary locking block guidedbetween walls of the head and formed with depending legs adapted to seaton a ledge on the head to cause said block to assume a lock-setposition.

A still further object of my invention is to provide a coupler of thebottom operated type in which all parts of the mechanism work 39 onpivots to facilitate operation thereof, the

operating rod being provided with a depending arm which serves thedouble purpose of operating the locking mechanism and alining thecoupler head for effecting the operation of coupling.

An additional object of my invention is to provide an automatic couplerin which the lock is of the vertically movable type and engages one of apair of cooperating bell crank levers forming knuckle opening mechanismupon upward movement thereof, said lock being operated by a rocker shaftwith a lever thereon and a link connecting said lever and lock, theparts being so arranged that during the unlocking operation themechanical advantage of the lock operating mechanism increases as thatof the knuckle opening mechanism decreases, so that a substantiallyconsistant knuckle opening force is provided for.

Other objects and advantages of the invention relating to the particulararrangement and construction of the various parts will become apparentas the description proceeds.

Referring to the drawings illustrating my invention, the scope whereofis defined by the appended claims.

Figure 1 is a plan of one embodiment of my improved form of couplershown artly in horizontal section with the knuc le in closed or lockedposition.

Figure 2 is a horizontal sectional view of the coupler showing theknuckle in plan and in opened or unlocked position.

Figure 3 is a vertical sectional View on the line 8*?) of Figure 1.looking in the direction of the arrows.

Figure 4 is a transverse sectional view on the line 44 of Figure 1looking in the direction of the arrows, with the knuckle illustrateddiagrammatically.

Referring to the drawings in detail, like parts being designated by likereference characters, I have shown a coupler 1 particularly adapted forrailway cars and comprising a head 2 and a knuckle 3, said knuckle inthe present embodiment being such as is used in a standard D coupler.The knuckle 3 is'fo-rmed with a normally vertical aperture 4 receiving apivot pin or pintle 5 which may be of standard or desired constructionextending through registering apertures 6 in hinging ears 7 and 8 of thehead. The knuckle is provided with a tail 9 received in a pocket 10 inthe coupler head 2.

The locking mechanism for the knuckle 3 in the present embodimentcomprises a lock, locking device or block 11 which is movable verticallyin the head and guided between walls 12, 13 and 14 of said head whichre- TI-IE GOULD COUPLER strain rearward and sideward movement thereof.Forward movement of said block is restrained by the raising or operatingmechanism to be hereinafter described.

For opening the knuckle 3 I have provided a knuckle opener which in thepresent embodiment comprises a bell crank lever with a hub portion 16formed with a normally ver tical opening 17 therethrough receiving apivot pin or pintle 18 extending between a corresponding apertured hub19 rising from the bottom of the wall 20 of the head and a flange or web21 overlying the top of the hub portion 16. From the lower portion ofthehub 16 a knuckle opening arm, lever, or kicker 22- extends and isreceived when in inactive position in a corresponding groove 23 in theadj acent wall of the head 2. It will be appreciated that as theopener;15 is vertically pivoted and has its axis substantially parallelwith that of the knuckle, it is in a position to moreefi'ectively openthe same by engaging the adjacent portion of the knuckle tail 9 with itscurved arm or lever 22. Y

On account of the arm 22 being curved to correspond with the knuckleside of the head and the engaged portion. of the tail of the lmuckle,the mechanical advantage of the arrangement for opening the knuckle is amaximum initially and decreases slightly as the kn'uckle'is opened onaccount of the point of engagement with the arm 22 advancing from thepivotal axis of the hub 16 toward the pivotal axis of the knuckle 3, aswill be understood from a comparison of Figures 1 and 2. Some frictionalor sliding movement is avoided on account of the arm 22 operating in theplane of movement of the knuckle tail rather than at an angle thereto.This construction makes it relatively easy to open the knuckle and iscomplementary as compared with the lock raising or unlocking mechanism,where'- by the force required to operate the coupler may besubstantially uniform.

For imparting motion to the knuckle opener 15 and the kickerportion22thereof, the hub 16' is formed preferably adjacent its upper part withan actuating arm or extension 24, said arm preferably extendinghorizontally but being angularly disposed with respect to the kicker arm22 in plan. In order to transmit motion between the locking block 11 andthe opener 15 and more particularly the arm 24 thereof, a bell cranklever or pivoted member 25 is provided, said member having angularlydisposed arms 26 and 27, the former of which engages the arm'24 of theknuckle opener, and the latter of which is operated from the lockingmechanism, preferably the locking block 11. In the pres-' ent embodimentthe arm 27 fits into a recess 28 in the locking block 11 for actuationby said block upon the same being raised. The

bell crank lever 25 is preferably pivotally' mounted in the head2byhaving a substantial- 1y horizontal pivot pin 29 extending through acentral or hub portion 30 thereof and through corresponding registeringapertures in the transversely extending walls 31 of the head disposedforwardly and rearwardly of the bell crank lever 25. Said pin 29 may beretained in position in any desired manner as by means of a cotter 32passing through an aperture adjacent the end of the pin 29 and with itsbifurcated end expanded in place to prevent loss thereof. No cotter orother independent securing means is necessary for the pivot pin 18,because the head 33 of the pin 29 overlies the head34 of said pin 18 andpreventsundesired removal or loss thereof.

Upon referring particularly to Figure 4,

v will be seen that the tail 9 of the knuckle, indicated onlydiagrammatically by dot and dash lines, which islleld in locked positionby the locking block 11, presents a substantially vertic'al'or uprightface 35 thereto." In ordento prevent creeping of the'lock 11, the sameis preferably 'f-ormed wider at the lower portion thereof and the wallof the lock cavity at the guard arm side of the head is correspondinglyinclined as indicated at 36.

In order to provide for raising the lock block 11 to permit uncoupling,an operating rod 37 is provided having a handle 38preferably'normally'inclined in the direction of unlocking to minimize swinging thereof andthereby avoiding unintentional unlocking of the coupler. Said rod 37 ispreferably formed with a hook 39 at its inner end for engagement with aneye 40 of a rocker shaft 41, which in turn effects the operation of thecoupler upon rotating or turning of said shaft. The operation of thecoupler is not afiected bylongitudinal movement of the operating rod orrocker shaft, so that such movement may be employed for alining thecoupler with an adjacent coupler to which itis desired to coupleit,theinner end of the coupler stem (not'shown) being for that purposedesirably adapted for angling or pivotal movement with respect to thecar underframe. I

The operatinn mechanism for the locking block 11 which is guided for upand down movement in the head, comprises a lever or arm 42 rigidlymounted on the operating rocker shaft 41 as by havinga non-circularaperture 43 fitting on a corresponding por tion 44 of the shaft. Thelocking block 11 is desirably formed with a pair of depending legs 45which, when in lowermost position as indicated in Figure 3, rest uponthe hub of the. arm 42 preferably directly over the axis of the shaft41. The lock or look block 11 is raised to lock-set or full openedposition, as desired, by meansof a link 46 pivotedat its lower end tothe free end of the arm 42 as indicated at 47 and preferably likewisepivoted atits upper end to' the lock or block 11 between the dependinglegs 45 thereof by pivotal means indicated at 48.

The upper portion of the head 2 is desirably, though not necessarily,closed, as indicated at 49, to prevent the entrance of water or otherforeign matter. The shaft 41 is desirably retained in place by the eyeportion 40 serving as a head on one end and a nut or washer portion 50securely connected to the end as by means of a cotter or the like 51.The head 2 is formed with a. ledge 52 serving as a stop or rest for thelink 46 and the free end of the arm 42, thereby securely holding thelock block 11 in proper locked position, as indicated in Figure 8, withthe arm 42 substantially horizontal. Immediately above the ledge 52 is apocket 53 receiving the free end of the arm 42 and the lower end of thelink 46 with suficient clearance to permit the required movement of saidmembers.

The operation of the aforedescribed embodiment of my invention is asfollows. Upon rotating the rocker shaft 41 clockwise as viewed in Figure3 as by raising the operating rod arm 38, the lock lever or arm 42raises the lock link 46 and connecting lock block 11 until the knuckleis opened for coupling with another coupler, the top portion of the lockblock having engaged the arm 27 of the bell crank lever 25 to cause thearm 26 thereof to move the kicker 22 through en gagement between thearms 26 and 24 to swing the knuckle from the position illustrated inFigure 1 to that illustrated in Figure 2. Upon releasing the operatingrod, the lock or block 1 is allowed to drop to lock-set position (notillustrated) where the depending legs 45 engage the lock-set ledge 54 tohold the lock in position for coupling. Upon engagement of the knuckle 3with another coupler during the coupling operation, said knuckle isswung inwardly to locked position and the tail 9 thereof passes underthe lock 11 and withdraws said lock from lockset position. After thishas been effected, the lock automatically drops to locked position, asshown in Figure 3, where the legs 45 engage the hub of the arm 42, andthe free end of said arm and its connected link 46 rests on the ledge 52provided as a limit stop.

From the foregoing disclosure, it will be apparent that I have devisedan improved coupler in which the knuckle opening mechanism and the lockraising mechanism are so constructed that the mechanical advantage ofone varies in a different way from that of the other, so that the forceavailable for opening the knuckle is maintained substantially uniform.On account of having the operating parts pivoted with the avoidance ofsliding friction, the coupler is operated without the necessity for anygreat exertion on the part of the operator.

Although I have described a preferred embodiment of my invention, it isto be understood that the same is merely illustrative and thatmodifications may be made within the spirit and scope of the appendedclaims without departing from my invention.

This application is a continuation in part of my copending applicationsSerial Nos. 279,917, filed May 19, 1928, and 349,131, filed March 22,1929. As in said applications, the arm 42 and link 46 form a toggle, forraising the lock 11, the mechanical advantage of which increases as thelock is raised.

Having now described my invention, I claim:

1. In combination, a coupler head, a swing ing knuckle, a locking devicefor said knuckle comprising a block formed with a depending portion,operating means for said block comprising a shaft, an arm thereon, and alink connecting said arm and block, said shaft being disposed with itsaxis directly beneath said depending portion, and said arm being formedwith a hub on said shaft serving to directly support said dependingportion above the axis of said shaft when the block is in its lowermostposition.

2. In combination, a coupler head, a swinging knuckle, a lock for saidknuckle, operating means for said lock comprising a shaft, an arm with ahub on said shaft, and a link connecting said arm and lock, said hubserving to support said lock, when in its lowermost position, with thepoint of engagement therebetween directly above the axis of said shaft.

3. In combination, a coupler head, a swinging knuckle, a locking blockfor Said knuckle, knuckle opening means between said knuckle and block,and operated by the latter, comprising means operated at a decreasingmechanical advantage as the knuckle swings to open position, andoperating means for said block comprising a rotatable shaft, a levermounted on said shaft to rotate there with and with its free endnormally engaging a portion of the head to limit downward movementthereof, a portion of said block normally supported on said lever invertical alignment with its axis of rotation, and a link pivotallyconnected to the free end of said lever and said block and normallyextending upwardly and rearwardly to said block to keep it in properposition, said engaging portion of the head maintaining said lever in aposition to give an increasing mechanical advantage as the lock israised and the knuckle opening mechanism operated.

4. In combination, a coupler head, a swinging knuckle, a lock for saidknuckle, means operated by said lock for opening said knuckle comprisingan arm acting on the tail of the knuckle with the point of itsengagement therewith advancing in a normally horizontal plane toward thepivotal aXis of the knuckle as the latter opens, whereby said meansoperates at a decreasing mechanical advantage as the knuckle swings toopen positiomoperating means for said lock comprising a shaft, a locklever on said shaft, means for normally holding said lever insubstantially horizontal position while allowing upward swinging thereoffor raising said lock, and a link connecting said lever and lock andarranged with respect thereto so that the mechanical advantage of thelock lifting mechanism increases as the lock is being raised and theknuckle opened.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

WILLARD F. RICHARDS.

